On Friday, the Obama Administration had the utter gall in trying to find a silver lining in a disappointing jobs report.

For December the unemployment rate hung at 7.8 percent with 155,000 jobs created. Truth be told, the only reason the rate remained unchanged is that it was readjusted for November — up to 7.8 from an initially announced 7.7.

So what was the White House’s response?

“While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007.”

From here, Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, went on to note that good things lie ahead, thanks in part to the bill passed last week to avoid the fiscal cliff.

“With the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act earlier this week, more than 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses now have certainty that their income taxes will not rise.”

Krueger’s comment is disingenuous at best given that even the lowest wage earners began the new year with smaller paychecks since Congress failed to extend the 2 percent Social Security tax break. For someone scraping by on $20,000 a year that’s $400 less a year to buy groceries, pay an overdue heating bill or keep the lights on.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg for those struggling to pay the bills. On Friday, Generation Opportunity, which bills itself as a non-partisan organization advocating for Millennials ages 18-29, released its jobs report for an age group which rousingly helped re-elect President Obama.

According to GO’s analysis, the overall unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds for December 2012 is 11.5 percent.

The unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for December 2012 is 22.1 percent; the unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for December 2012 is 12.2 percent; and the unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women for December 2012 is 10.4 percent.

The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.

If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 unemployment calculations, according to GO, the actual Millennial unemployment rate would rise to 16.3 percent.

As for that participation rate, the U.S. Department of Labor reports the U-6 unemployment rate remained at 14.4 percent. The U-6 rate is largely considered a better measure of unemployment because, in part, it accounts for those who have give up looking for work. The unemployment rate touted in news reports pretends those no longer working don’t exist, thus artificially lowering the unemployment rate.

As for the growth of which the White House immodestly brags, the unemployment rate for three out of the last four months has remained at 7.8 percent, despite the added hiring which took place during the holiday season.

Another indication of where the Obama Administration may be taking the country can be found by looking at the long-term unemployed tally (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) which was “essentially unchanged at 4.8 million and accounted for 39.1 percent of the unemployed, according to the Department of Labor.

So much for President Obama’s campaign promise to move the country “forward.”